[All] Canadians support the CBC: A Follow-up to "CBC Sold"

[Robert Milligan]

It doesn't take much budget cutting to degrade CBC a lot!


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Ian Morrison - FRIENDS <ian.morrison at friends.ca>
> Date: December 5, 2011 5:57:28 PM GMT-05:00
> To: mill at continuum.org
> Subject: Canadians support the CBC
>
> view email in browser   | update contact info  |  unsubscribe
>
>
> Dear Robert,
>
> With every signature, a message is sent to Prime Minister Harper,  
> urging him to keep his election promise to maintain or increase  
> CBC’s funding!
>
> It’s a great achievement, but we urgently need to generate many more  
> signatures and messages to Harper – and quickly.
>
> Please sign the petition right now.
>
> In spite of their election promise to maintain or increase CBC  
> funding, Harper and company are taking dead aim at CBC in the  
> upcoming federal budget. And it may be worse than we originally  
> expected.
>
> It has just been reported that Conservative government are now  
> talking about cutting the CBC’s budget by 10%, PLUS eliminating a  
> special “programming top-up” the CBC relies upon to put good  
> Canadian shows on the air. If this happens CBC will be singled out  
> for especially harsh treatment in Ottawa’s budget cutting – $170  
> million, or 16% of CBC’s parliamentary allocation.
>
> We can persuade the Prime Minister to keep his election promise –  
> but only if we ALL work together. Please sign the petition at www.friends.ca/smackdown/
>
> Canadians support the CBC:
>
> The CBC remains a vibrant force for Canadian culture, connecting us  
> from coast to coast to coast. We know that Canadians value this role  
> and want to see the CBC properly funded so it can continue this  
> important mission.
>
> When we launched STOP THE CBC SMACKDOWN last week, we also released  
> the results of a national public opinion survey. The survey shows  
> clearly that Canadians value public broadcasting and give the CBC  
> high marks for the job it does.
>
> The poll demonstrates that seven-in-ten Canadians want the  
> Conservative government to increase or maintain CBC funding – in  
> other words, to keep its election promise. And half of Canadians  
> think the level of funding of the CBC is insufficient to maintain a  
> unique and vibrant Canadian identity and culture.
>
> Clearly, Canadians hope and expect the federal government will  
> protect or enhance our national public broadcaster, not diminish it.
>
> What would $170 million in cuts mean?
>
> Slashing the CBC’s parliamentary grant by $170 million would have  
> devastating consequences. A cut of this magnitude would be visible  
> and of great concern to a majority of Canadians. Our best  
> ‘intelligence’ from inside sources is that such a cut would:
>
> Kill plans to fill Radio One coverage gaps in Hamilton, Kamloops,  
> London and the Waterloo region
> Close Radio One stations in small Canadian cities
> More U.S. shows on CBC Television prime-time, moving away from cost- 
> intensive programs such as The Fifth Estate towards cheaper shows  
> like Dragon’s Den and Battle of the Blades
> More repeats on both Radio and Television
> Axing CBC Radio Two
> Less expensive journalism, such as original investigative pieces,  
> closing foreign bureaus – more dumbing down of the news.
> Effectively turn CBC into a ‘Toronto Broadcasting Corporation’
> It is against this backdrop that we launched STOP THE CBC SMACKDOWN.
>
> What we can do:
>
> I am urgently requesting that you visit the SMACKDOWN website to  
> sign the petition and then share it with your network. Only a strong  
> effort by Canadians who care will be able to stop Harper from  
> crippling our public broadcaster in his February 2012 Budget.
>
> There is another reason to visit the campaign website. When you go  
> to www.friends.ca/smackdownyou will find video messages that parody  
> a worst-case scenario – one that grows more likely with each passing  
> day’s events on Parliament Hill -- that the government secretly  
> intends to sell some or all of our national public broadcaster to  
> the highest bidder.
>
> I invite you to watch the videos we have produced for the campaign.  
> Each contains a message to Canadians from the CBC’s new owner/ 
> operator, Lance Fury. By way of introduction, Lance is a personal  
> friend of the Prime Minister’s and a former professional wrestling  
> promoter from the US who plans to add some action to CBC News and  
> “sex up” CBC Radio.
>
> This satirical online campaign gives voice to the vast majority of  
> Canadians who are supportive of the CBC to call on the Conservative  
> government to keep its election promise to maintain or increase CBC  
> funding.
>
> After you sign the petition I ask you to view the videos and pass  
> them on to your friends. In this way, you can help us to build a  
> tidal wave of messages to the Prime Minister.
>
>
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> 	
> Ian Morrison
> Spokesperson
> FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting
>
> P.S. To stop Harper & Co. there are three things you can do right now:
>
> Watch the videos
> Sign the petition
> Share the campaign with your networks
> FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent watchdog for  
> Canadian programming
> and is not affiliated with any broadcaster or political party.
>
> View FRIENDS' privacy policy.
>

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